Wednesday, March 10
Anaheim, CA
University of California, Riverside
72
vs
63
Cal Poly (First Round)
Photo by: Phil Ellsworth
Highlanders Defeat Cal Poly in First Round Game at Big West Tournament
3/10/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The UC Riverside Highlanders made a major statement Wednesday with a 72-63 win over the Cal Poly Mustangs in the first round of the Big West Tournament at the Anaheim Convention Center.
The No. 5 seeded Highlanders moved to 11-16, while the No.8 Mustangs finish the 03-04 season at 11-16. UCR will play Idaho in the second round Thursday at 8:30 PM. The game will be broadcast live on KPRO-1570 AM and KUCR-88.3 FM. It will also be telecast on KVMD-TV.
Sophomore forward Nate Carter had a game high 19 points and junior forward Vili Morton had his third double-double of the season with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Sophomore guard Rickey Porter had 16 points off the bench and senior guard Ted Bell had 13 points and four rebounds in a full 40 minutes of work.
Senior forward Varnie Dennis led Cal Poly with a double-double of 14 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.
The Highlanders took a 32-25 lead into halftime. Bell nailed back-to-back treys at 1:14 and with four seconds remaining to cap a 12-0 run over the final 5:47.
The Mustangs rallied in the first seven minutes of the second half, trimming a nine-point deficit into a one point lead at 36-35 on a layup by Nick Enzweiler. But UCR bounced back, gradually building the lead up to seven at 45-38 at 11:05 on a pair of free throws by Carter. Cal Poly trimmed the lead to two at 47-45 on a layup by Dennis, but again the Highlanders rallied, using a 10-2 run to build the lead to double-digits at 62-51 on a trey by Porter with 2:32 remaining. Cal Poly never got closer than seven points down the stretch and Carter punctuated the victory with an alley-oop dunk from Peters with two-seconds left, thrilling the vocal Highlander crowd.
UCR shot 45.8% on the game, while holding Cal Poly to just 39.7%. The Highlanders also hit 43.8% of their three pointers, led by Bell and Porter with three each. Free throws were the only problem, as UCR was 21-of-32 on the game, although they were 19-of-27 (70.4%) in the second-half. The 32 free throw attempts were a season high. UCR also committed 20 turnovers, just the third time this season they have eclipsed that margin. (UCR is 3-0 when they have 20 or more turnovers this season.)
The Highlanders used just eight players in the game, their fewest number of the season.
The No. 5 seeded Highlanders moved to 11-16, while the No.8 Mustangs finish the 03-04 season at 11-16. UCR will play Idaho in the second round Thursday at 8:30 PM. The game will be broadcast live on KPRO-1570 AM and KUCR-88.3 FM. It will also be telecast on KVMD-TV.
Sophomore forward Nate Carter had a game high 19 points and junior forward Vili Morton had his third double-double of the season with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Sophomore guard Rickey Porter had 16 points off the bench and senior guard Ted Bell had 13 points and four rebounds in a full 40 minutes of work.
Senior forward Varnie Dennis led Cal Poly with a double-double of 14 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.
The Highlanders took a 32-25 lead into halftime. Bell nailed back-to-back treys at 1:14 and with four seconds remaining to cap a 12-0 run over the final 5:47.
The Mustangs rallied in the first seven minutes of the second half, trimming a nine-point deficit into a one point lead at 36-35 on a layup by Nick Enzweiler. But UCR bounced back, gradually building the lead up to seven at 45-38 at 11:05 on a pair of free throws by Carter. Cal Poly trimmed the lead to two at 47-45 on a layup by Dennis, but again the Highlanders rallied, using a 10-2 run to build the lead to double-digits at 62-51 on a trey by Porter with 2:32 remaining. Cal Poly never got closer than seven points down the stretch and Carter punctuated the victory with an alley-oop dunk from Peters with two-seconds left, thrilling the vocal Highlander crowd.
UCR shot 45.8% on the game, while holding Cal Poly to just 39.7%. The Highlanders also hit 43.8% of their three pointers, led by Bell and Porter with three each. Free throws were the only problem, as UCR was 21-of-32 on the game, although they were 19-of-27 (70.4%) in the second-half. The 32 free throw attempts were a season high. UCR also committed 20 turnovers, just the third time this season they have eclipsed that margin. (UCR is 3-0 when they have 20 or more turnovers this season.)
The Highlanders used just eight players in the game, their fewest number of the season.
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